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It’s been a while! 2014 was a crazy one! I moved to CA and am starting everything from scratch. I haven’t been doing nails at all! Terrible– I know! But I finally got around to doing it just in time for Christmas.

If you noticed, my nails are short! My claws have been filed down to little shorties since June! It’s crazy but with my new job, it’s just impossible to keep my beautiful class intact.

This design was created using CalGel and Trump Gel. This nail set is a natural nail gel overlay. Gold & clear iridescent glitters with different sized gold hexagon Splash! brand holograms.

So…I’m supposed to be studying for my LSAT (which is in like…3 weeks)…but all I can think about is nail designs. Eek!

I have a very special “client” who has asked me to get her nail game on point. She is one of my best friends since childhood, and she made a surprise visit back home to Hawaii from San Francisco for two weeks. So, of course I am going to go all out and give her exactly what she wants!

Nails I did for her last time she was in Hawaii. Lavender purple color gradation with clear glitter over. Skull & lightning bolt charms. I used CalGel (mixed #06 & #01). The glitter was Eriko #001.

And on top of that, I have to go back in to the salon in a couple days (I took the entire month off to study), for a day, to meet the needs of some regulars who apparently, will just die. Ha! Nail junkies, I tell you. I love it. And I appreciate their fierce loyalty.

I don’t know if many people take the time to do this, but if I know ahead of time that I will be doing a new set, I like to sketch out the design(s). It is easier to visualize the end result– not to mention it is a great road map to use when you have finally decided to get started. I will do this for some of my more “difficult” clients who regularly come in and ask for the “just surprise me” option. But I usually do this, mostly, for my own nails. Because I found that the part about doing my own nails that takes so long is the deciding of the design. If I sketch it out, at least I have a guideline to follow.

My nautical spring nail set I did back in May, based on some sketches. This is a natural nail overlay using CalGel.

Summer leopard I did for myself. Again, natural nail overlay using the soft gel, CalGel (mixed #46 & #01 for the nudey color, & used #04 for the black– no pigment). I drew the leopard print with the gel to give it a less defined, and more blurred look.

Some design ideas I had for one of my regulars back in 2011.

All of these really helped me move quickly and figure out what exactly I wanted to do. Not only that, but once I got the ideas out, I could focus my energy on the best and fastest way to executing these designs.

While taking my “study break,” I decided to sketch up some ideas for my biffer’s nails. She gave me a color palate, a theme, and sent me some photos she liked. So, at least I wasn’t in the total dark. What I came up with:

What do you guys think? Which one is a your favorite? Any suggestions? I wonder which one we will end up doing…
Definitely will post photos of the final nail set!

Ok, back to the studies. Thanks for visiting.
And remember to keep your claws modish!